INS 105A —Introduction to American Indian Studies/Weekend College
Murphy Place—Room 111
Friday 6:00-9:30 p.m.
INSTRUCTOR: M. Elise Marubbio
Marubbio@augsburg.edu
Office Hours: by appointment
Introduction to American Indian Studies
Purpose of Course:
This course is an introduction to the content areas of the American Indian studies
curriculum, including an overview of American Indian history, American Indian
literature, federal Indian policy, land issues, reservation and urban issues, crosscultural influences, art, music, and language.
Our goal is to challenge stereotypes and assumptions about American Indian
people in the past and present, and to trace over time how tribes have resisted,
adapted to, or incorporated the cultures of those with whom they encounter and
interact.
Students Rights and Responsibilities:
All students have the right to use the College Counseling and Student Development staff
services, as well as to receive tutoring assistance from the writing lab program. The Augsburg
College policy on academic honesty applies to this course.
Course Requirements:
Following WEC attendance policy, students are required to attend all classes and take part in
class discussions and activities in an informed manner reflective of assigned readings and inclass materials.
Exams: You will have two take-home exams—a midterm and a final. Each is worth 25%
of your grade.
Assignments based on weekly reading (five): 1) Read the assigned material listed under
the topic heading for that week. 2) Come to class with a thought-provoking question
based on your readings that you can answer. These questions and answers will be handed
in after discussion. Each of your five questions is worth 4% of your grade; they total
20% of your final grade. Sept. 7, 19; Oct. 3, 17; Nov. 14.
Short Paper Assignments: There are three short writing assignments for this course due
on Oct. 3, Nov. 12, and Dec. 5. Each is worth 10% of your grade for a total of 30%.
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Required Texts:
1) Bonvillain, Nancy, Native Nations: Cultures and Histories of Native North America. New
York: Prentice Hall, 2001.
2) Lobo, Susan and Steve Talbot. Native American Voices: A Reader New York: Prentice Hall,
2001.
3) Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. New York: Penguin Books, c. 1977, 1986 printing.
4) Course Packet: This packet is required and is available at the Student Union Bookstore.
Course Outline
The material listed below may be supplemented with in-class films or guest speakers
Sept. 5 Area One—Introduction to Native American Languages, Cultures, and Origins:
A. Introductions and overview:
Readings: Native Nations pp. 1-8 & Native American Voices “Following the
Footsteps,” 2-10; “Definitions of Diversity,” 13-28; “Racism
Stereotypes,”185-192. From Packet: “Mascots” Honor Be Thy Name,” 5861. [37 pages total]
B. Pre-Contact North America:
Language Groups: Athabaskan, Algonkin, Siouan, Aztec-Tanoan
Cultures of North America: Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Plains,
Great Basin, California, Northwest Coast, Subarctic/Arctic.
Begin reading Native Nations: Northeast—41-54; Southeast—126-133;
Plains—179-183; Great Basin—267-274; Southwest—312-335;
California—392-405; Northwest Coast—444-455; S/arctic—495—504.
[89 pages total—finish by next week]
Assignment 1: Choose one group to read about from each of the areas: Northwest,
Southeast, Plains, The Great Basin, California, Northwest Coast, and
Subarctic/arctic discussed in Native Nations. For example, the section on
the Southwest offers a closer look at either the Zuni or the Navajo. Read
only the sections pertaining to pre-contact, for example, 360-370 on the
Navajo. In class you will be paired with others who have read the same
material. You will discuss this reading together and present as a group to
the other members of the class.
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Sept. 19
A. Continue Culture Areas:
Readings: Finish readings above.
B. Theories of Origin: The Bering Strait Theory vs. Oral Traditions
Readings: In Native American Voices: “Black Bear,” 74-83; “Mythical
Pleistocene Hit Men,” Vine Deloria—193-203. [19 new pages]
Assignment 2: You will research various concepts of Origin depending on the
topic assigned to you in class on Sept. 7: Bering Strait theory, American
Indian Origin beliefs, Other theories. Write a brief outline of the
information you have collected. We will debate these in class. Use this
research or your readings for your weekly question and answer.
Area Two: European Colonization of North America
C. Western Colonial Model: Spain, Great Britain, France
Readings: Native Nations: 9-16; Northeast—55-58; Southeast—133-137;
Plains—184-194; Great Basin—274-275; Southwest—350-353 and 371373; California—405-409; Northwest Coast—455-457; S/Arctic—504509. Native American Voices: 152-162 [60 pages]
Oct. 3 Area Three: the Emergence of the U.S. and American Indian Policy.
A. Trade and Intercourse Acts, Treaties, the Constitution & Removal Period.
B. Continue Removal Period & Reservation
C. Assimilation and Allotment Periods
Readings for Assimilation: Native American Voices: “Civilize Them With a
Stick,” 255-262.
Readings: Native Nations: 17-35; Northeast—62-63; Southeast—137-139;
Plains—194-200; Great Basin—275-279; Southwest: 353-355 and 373378; California—409-411; Northwest Coast—457-463. [71 pages]
Assignment 3: Choose one group to read about from each of the areas: Northwest,
Southeast, Plains, The Great Basin, California, Northwest Coast, and
Subarctic/arctic discussed in Native Nations. Read only the sections
pertaining to Early American and 19th c. American Indian-U.S. interaction.
In class you will be paired with others who have read the same material.
You will discuss this reading together and present as a group to the other
members of the class.
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Oct. 17
A. Reform Movement & Indian Reorganization Act
B. Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 & Termination and Relocation Policy
C. Self-Determination & Self Governance
Readings: Native American Voices: “The Black Hills,”132-140; “Directions in
People’s Movements,” 173-181; “Sustainable Development,” 345-352;
“Native American Labor,” 369-377; “The Dealer’s Edge,” 377-387. [41
pages]
Assignment 4: Choose four of the eight readings listed below in Native Nations:
Northeast—58-62; Southeast—139-146; Plains—200-204; GreatBasin—
279-283; Southwest—355-358 and 379-387;
California—412-415;
Northwest Coast—463-465; S/Arctic—509-517.
Think about the
connections between the experience of the groups you
choose and the
information found in the main readings from Native American Voices listed
above. Be prepared to discuss in class—you may
use these readings as the basis for your weekly question.
Mid Term take home—due Nov. 14.
Oct. 31 Area Four: Political and Social Issues Facing Native American Peoples:
Sovereignty Rights, Religious Freedom, Land Rights, and Language and Culture.
A. Identity
Readings from Native American Voices: The Crucible of American Indian
Identity,” 31-47; “To the U.S. Census,” 48-55. [23 pages]
B. Issues of Sovereignty, Cultural Autonomy & Resistance
Film Viewing: Incident at Oglala
Readings from Native American Voices: “Reprise/Forced Sterilization,” 212216; “Renegades, Terrorists,” 219-225 “Voices of Indigenous People,”
477-480; “Ethnic Reorganization,” 487-503. [29 pages]
C. Religious Freedom
Readings from Native American Voices: “Spirituality,” 284-290; “Who Owns Our
Past?”, 303-318; “The Great Pretenders,” 330-341. [32 pages]
Paper Assignment 1: Read an Indian Newspaper (The Circle, Indian Country
Today, etc.) and write a 2-3 page paper about it. The paper should contain
a brief overview of the entire newspaper and then focus on one article that
you found of particular interest.
Begin reading Ceremony
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Nov. 14
A. Land Rights
Readings from Native American Voices: “Indigenous Environmental
Perspectives,” 353-368; “NARF,”388-391; “Peace,” 392. From
Packet: Paul Vandevelder, “A Native Sense of Earth: Treaty Rights and
Environmental Standards,” 42-49; Jennifer Villeneuve, “Left to Waste: A
Toxic Legacy Beneath the Arctic Snow,” 48-53: Bill Weinberg, “Land,
Hemp and Sovereignty at Pine Ridge: The Oglala Lakota Fight Federal
Obstruction,” 11-17. [40 pages]
B. Language Retention
Readings from Native American Voices: “Survival,” 266; “Protagonism
Emergent,” 267-281. From Packet: Liz Hill, “Betting on Language:
Gaming’s Flush Flows to Tribal Cultures,” 36-41. [20]
Assignment 5: Choose one of the readings above to summarize and base your
weekly question and answer on this reading.
Continue reading Ceremony—finish for Nov. 21.
Nov. 21 Area Five: Native American Art, Literature, and Film.
A. Native American Art
Reading: Native American Voices: “Creating a Visual History,”166-172; “My
World,” 298-302. From Course Packet: Fritz Scholder, “The Native
American and Contemporary Art: A Dilemma,” 420-424; Jeanne
Snodgrass-King, “In the Name of Progress, is History Being Repeated?”
27-35; Allan J. Ryan, “I Enjoy Being A Mohawk Girl: The Cool and
Comic Character of Shelley Niro’s Photography,” 44-53 [31 pages]
B. Native American Literature
Discuss Ceremony
Readings from packet: Patricia Riley, “The Mixed Blood Writer as Interpreter
and Mythmaker,” 230-242; Susan Scarberry’s “Memory as Medicine: The
Power of Recollection in Ceremony” 19-26. [19 pages] (Nov. 21 cont.)
Paper Assignment 2: Visit the Minneapolis Art Institute’s exhibit on Native
American Art, which offers examples of Indigenous art spanning a
number of centuries and including contemporary work. The collection is
housed on the second floor toward the back of the museum—four rooms.
Go through the entire collection. Write a two-3 page essay discussing the
overall show and how the contemporary work reflects the past artistic
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traditions. You may call ahead and request a docent to give you an indepth tour of this collection—(612) 870-3131.
Minneapolis Art Institute Address: 2400 Third Avenue South,
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
Hours: Tues-Sun. 11-5.
Dec. 5
Native American Film
View: Smoke Signals
Reading: Native American Voices: “The Pocahontas Perplex,” 203—211.
Paper Assignment 3: View one of the following films listed below. Find at least
two reviews or articles of the film.(You may use on-line web pages for
this or film journals, but cite them in the paper and include a
bibliography. If you do not know how to properly cite a paper then you
should consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, by
Gibeldi and Achtert, which is available at most libraries.) Write a twothree page essay reviewing the film. Do not summarize the plot; rather,
discuss the film in terms of how it engages Native traditions or
contemporary issues, and/or how it counteracts stereotypes. What did
the reviewers think of the film?
Most of these films should be available at any local video store. If you
have problems finding them or you would like to use a different Nativedirected/written/or produced film, contact me.
Films and Call Numbers at Augsburg Library if available:
Atanarjuat –Fast Runner (2002))
Dance Me Outside (1994)
Grand Avenue (Sackheim, 1996)
Harold of Orange (Vizenor, 1984). VHS V-256
Naturally Native (Red Horse, 2000)
.
Final take-home Exam—due in my office by Dec. 12
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